Zidlicky scores twice as Wild tame Blackhawks

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Defenseman Marek Zidlicky halted the
Minnesota Wild's struggles on the road and the Chicago
Blackhawks' dominance at home all in one night.

Zidlicky netted a pair of power-play goals and added an assist
while captain Mikko Koivu scored a goal and set up two others as
the Wild vanquished the Blackhawks, 4-1, on Monday.

Rookie Cal Clutterbuck added an empty-netter with 34 seconds
remaining in the contest and Owen Nolan and Andrew Brunette
notched two assists apiece for the Wild, who had dropped eight
of their last 10 games on the road.

"This is a huge win for us and big two points," Minnesota coach
Jacques Lemaire said. "The crowd is loud here now and it's
tough to play here."

Niklas Backstrom turned aside 40 shots and helped Minnesota win
for the third time in four games.

"This is a good win for us; we played a solid 60 minutes,"
Backstrom said. "When we got shorthanded, the guys played well
around me. It was nice to get an early lead."

Martin Havlat scored the lone tally for Chicago, which fell to
14-3-5 at home this season.

"We got away from our game plan," Blackhawks defenseman James
Wisniewski said. "They are good at forcing you to make plays at
their blue line. One moment something is there and then it is
not. They play a very good boring game and it works for them."

Prior to this contest, a 6-5 setback to the San Jose Sharks on
November 16 was the Blackhawks' only regulation loss at the
United Center. They had cruised to an 8-0-1 mark in the nine
subsequent games.

However, it did not take long for the Wild to put an end to that
run.

"We got behind 1-0 and then things changed really quickly,"
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "When they get the first
goal ... they get really tough. Then they score the power-play
goal and we are in a big hole."

Koivu opened the scoring midway through the first period by
firing a slap shot from the slot past Nikolai Khabibulin to
notch his 50th career tally.

"I don't know if it hit (Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook's)
skate or his stick," Koivu said. "I was just trying to put the
puck on net and it went in."

Zidlicky then doubled Minnesota's lead with 96 seconds remaining
in the session.

"That is good," Zidlicky said of playing on eight power plays.
"I was just shooting the puck to the net and there was a great
screen."

Zidlicky struck again 5:53 into the second, beating Khabibulin
with a wrister from in front of the net.

"If you are on the power play, you have shoot and I am glad I
helped us get two points," Zidlicky said.

Lemaire was impressed with Zidlicky's big performance.

"He did what we want him to do, and that is shoot the puck,"
Lemaire said. "He has a good shot and he has to use it."

Havlat cut Chicago's deficit to 3-1 five minutes later, but
Backstrom was impenetrable the rest of the way en route to
registering his third 40-save effort of the season.

"When you are not scoring, guys have to find other ways to chip
in," Quenneville said. "This was a game to play patient in a
lot of areas and at times we weren't patient."

Clutterbuck secured the victory by recording his seventh goal of
the season with 34 seconds left in the game with Khabibulin on
the bench.

Khabibulin stopped 22 shots for the Blackhawks, who were without
defenseman Duncan Keith for the third straight contest due to an
apparent concussion suffered in Thursday's 4-1 win over the
Buffalo Sabres.

"We got off to a bad start," Khabibulin said. "It's hard to win
when you fall behind by three goals. It's hard when (Keith) is
not there, but we have to win even if he isn't playing."

Slated to play in his first All-Star Game later in the month,
Chicago's Patrick Kane was held off the scoresheet and has just
one point in his last 10 games.